This is the first installment of a new column called “Science of the Shore.” Here is an introduction to Bianca Charbonneau, Phd candidate who will be contributing monthly. Enjoy! Have a science question you would like answered? Email Bianca at [email protected]
As a New Jersey native (Parsippany), I have enjoyed our beaches all of my life. Similarly, like many who have had the fortune to stand at the ocean and marvel at its wild power and immensity, I have always had an innate, almost spiritual, draw to our coasts.
My name is Bianca Reo Charbonneau and I am a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania working towards my PhD studying coastal dune ecology.
Ecology is a branch of Biology dealing with the interconnectedness of organisms and their physical surroundings. A string of fortuitous events ultimately led me to study dunes. I was a Master’s student at Villanova University when Sandy hit New Jersey in 2012. I was devastated and sought ways to give back to my state; I ultimately realized that research was the best way I could do this as I had a strong background in field research from studying Ecology at Princeton University as an undergraduate. I hoped I could uncover something that would help us to be better prepared for the next inevitable storm and blindly sent my resume to coastal organizations looking for research opportunities.
The Save Barnegat Bay student grant program picked me up and I was funded by the Friends of Island Beach State Park to study how some of the dunes in the park were recovering aided by fencing. While studying the recovering and fenced northerly dunes, I noticed patterns in the plants atop the more southerly dunes that had fared the storm much better and only suffered erosion at the foredune. Realizing that I wanted to know more, I turned to literature on the subject but I came up with more questions than answers. Those patterns I observed grew into a Master’s dissertation and then snowballed into a PhD dissertation and where I am today.
Currently, I am studying how coastal dunes and the plants that hold them together respond to and recover from major storms, like Superstorm Sandy.
I conduct most of my research atop the dunes at beautiful IBSP! I walk along the dunes and take repeated measurements at the same sites to see how the dunes and the plants that make them strong change over time. I am trying to learn what factors help plants come to colonize barren areas that were de-vegetated by Superstorm Sandy and how dune stabilization varies by plant species. Similarly, when a storm hits, such as recently after Jonas, I measure changes and erosion to the dune system.
My research is very applicable and relevant for better buffering more developed areas with nature-based dune management plans. We can and should guide management efforts based on the patterns and relationships observed naturally at IBSP, which is in an ideal model of a perfect, strong, healthy, and pristine beach-dune system. I am always learning from the dunes and I am excited to have the opportunity to begin sharing new and interesting tidbits of my “Science of the Shore” knowledge with you monthly!
